Eventer Shane Rose reflects on Tokyo 2020

Shane Rose, International Eventer and three-time Olympic medallist (2008, 2016 and 2020) talks to Amanda and Bex from his quarantine hotel room in Sydney after landing back in Australia.



Since riding a pony called Mickey Mouse at age five, Shane has maintained a love of horses among numerous other outdoor sports. Despite Shane’s extensive experience at every level of eventing, his first love remains his wife Niki and four children Olivia, Harry and twins Zara and Lachlan – in fact, he might have a whole rugby team if it was only up to him!

• Notorious for enjoying time outside, playing with his kids and loving anything sporting, find out how Shane is coping in hotel quarantine.
• Tokyo was hotter and more humid than other games, hear Shane compare these games to the previous events he and the other experienced team members have competed at.
• The Australian High Performance management team have worked hard behind the scenes in a COVID-19 year to virtually prepare athletes from around the world. Shane talks in detail about the preparation that the team had done for the last year or two, in as much detail as preparation for an “apocalypse or alien invasion”!
• Heartbreaking scenes out of the Australian team had his fellow eventer Stuart Tinney withdraw at the last minute. Shane talks through not only the exceptional culture of the team but when the team made the call, how Stuart conducted himself and how and when he professionally handed the reins over to Kevin McNab.
• Shane was the first rider out at Tokyo 2020 due to the experience level with his horse Virgil, hear what sort of information the rest of the team were members looking to him for after his first rides. Shane talks us through the information that he handed down the line, and especially how he felt on cross country being one of few riders to make it in double clear.
• When choosing a horse, what is it that Shane looks for and what are his non-negotiables?

All this and so much more in this episode of THE EQUESTRIAN EXPERIENCE.